Peace activists forced from West Bank protest

Update: Israeli police forcibly removed 250 Palestinians and international peace activists who had set up an “outpost” in a contested area between Jerusalem and the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim.

The group had pitched around 25 large tents in the area known as "E-I" in the occupied territory of the West Bank. Israel last month had earmarked the area for further settlement expansion in a move widely seen as retribution against a vote in the United Nations General Assembly that upgraded Palestine’s status to a “non-member observer state”.

The activists, including prominent Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouthi, were removed following the orders of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to evacuate the area. The group had said they were protesting against continued settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem – considered illegal under international law – and in particular against plans to build in the E-1 stretch of land.

Their act of setting up tents in a contested area mirrored that of Israeli settlers – but here they were protesting on privately-owned Palestinian land with the permission of the landowners, calling the site Bab al-Shams village, or Gate of the Sun.

"For decades, Israel has established facts on the ground as the international community remained silent in response to these violations, The time has come now to change the rules of the game, for us to establish facts on the ground - on our own land," a statement released by the protest organisers - part of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee.

Just after the group set up its camp on Friday Israeli authorities issued the eviction order – activists then obtained a High Court order suspending the eviction notice.

Late on Saturday night, Mr Netanyahu announced the government would ask the High Court to “rescind the injunction that it had issued … which is delaying the evacuation”.

The site is a sensitive area in the Israeli-Palestine dispute. At the time Israeli announced new settlements, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed grave concern over Israel’s building plans, warning the E-1 development could completely cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. Australia, the US and Europe also condemned Israel’s move.

“As settlements are spread over the West Bank, the task of establishing a two-state solution, so advantageous to Palestinians and Israelis alike, becomes miserably harder,” Foreign Minister Bob Carr told ABC Radio on December 4.

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